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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6O-02028

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will provide an update on what preparations it has made for the launch of the Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-15739

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work to identify how older and disabled people who are unable to access physical return points will be protected during the phase-in period of an online takeback service for the Deposit Return Scheme.

We have proposed to bring forward amendments to the Deposit Return Scheme regulations so that only the largest grocery retailers will initially be obliged to provide an online takeback service and all other businesses will be exempt.- Further work will be undertaken to identify how older and disabled people will be protected during this phasing-in of online takeback to ensure the scheme is accessible to everyone.

Question reference: S6W-15735

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Deposit Return Scheme, whether any producers that have registered after 1 March 2023 have been registered in accordance with regulations.

Question reference: S6W-15736

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Deposit Return Scheme, how many applications for return point exemption were (a) made, (b) approved and (c) rejected since applications opened, broken down by month.

The following table shows the number of exemptions and voluntary return point applications, broken down by month, as of 16 March 2023.

	Feb-22	Mar-22	Apr-22	May-22	Jun-22	Jul-22	Aug-22	Sept-22	Oct-22	Nov-22	Dec-22	Jan-23	Feb-23	Mar-23	Totals
Proximity Applications Received	1			1	3		9		1		1		21	1	38
Granted				1		4	7				1			1	14
Rejected								1	1		1			1	4
Environmental Health Applications Received	3				1		2	1	1	4	7	16	51	168	254
Granted										1	3	2	4		11
Rejected				1	1					2	7				11
Voluntary Return Point Applications Received													1		1
Granted															0
Rejected															0

Question reference: S6W-15822

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09219 by Lorna Slater on 30 June 2022, whether it will provide an update on how many (a) exemption and (b) voluntary return point applications have been processed by Zero Waste Scotland to date.

Question reference: S6W-15930

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the holding answer to question S6W-15379 by Lorna Salter on 10 March 2023, for what reason there has been a delay in answering the question and whether it is due to consulting with third parties.

Question reference: S6W-15929

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-15344 by Lorna Slater on 10 March 2023, whether it will provide the information requested regarding (a) what communication it has had with drinks suppliers outside of Scotland to inform them of the Deposit Return Scheme, and (b) which companies it has informed of the scheme in each of the last 12 months, also broken down by country or region.

Question reference: S6W-15894

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the holding answer to question S6W-15363 by Lorna Slater on 9 March 2023, for what reason it does not have information readily available on the use of public funds to support (a) Circularity Scotland and (b) Deposit Return Scheme activities, and whether it will provide a breakdown of how public funds used for those activities are (i) recorded and (ii) monitored.

Question reference: S6W-15780

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it can take to ensure that SEPA issues no new waste management licences for incineration until work has been completed to develop an indicative cap on residual waste treatment capacity, as outlined in recommendation 5 of the report, Stop, Sort, Burn, Bury? Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy in Scotland.

The independent review of the role of incineration in Scotland’s waste hierarchy made it clear that Scotland does not need additional municipal waste incineration facilities to treat our unavoidable and unrecyclable municipal residual waste, beyond those for which planning permission has already been granted, with very limited exceptions.

That is why we introduced restrictions on energy from waste developments in National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), which came into effect on 13 February 2023. This sets out that development proposals for energy from waste facilities will not be supported except in limited circumstances where a national or local need has been sufficiently demonstrated (e.g. in terms of capacity need or carbon benefits) as part of a strategic approach to residual waste management.

SEPA cannot issue a Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) permit in respect of a waste incineration facility in the absence of planning permission. Introduction of restrictions on developments in NPF4, therefore, also prevent PPC permits being issued for new facilities in line with recommendation 4 of the incineration review, which noted that the Scottish Government should ensure that no further planning permission (i.e. beyond that already in place) is granted to incineration infrastructure within the scope of the Review unless balanced by an equal or greater closure of capacity, with very limited exceptions.

Question reference: S6W-15737

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 22 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether retailers will be required to charge a deposit on any Deposit Return Scheme articles donated to charities.

Any consumer that returns a scheme article is eligible for the deposit to be refunded.

This means that the deposit forms part of the consideration for a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) article donated to charity.

It is for the donor to consider whether they wish to charge for the deposit or include as part of the donation.

We are engaging with industry and third sector organisations where there are questions on the flow of deposits. Scotland's DRS is based on similar deposit return schemes which operate in 44 other states or territories worldwide.